Tonette Dyer and Nicole Ireland got the boosts they were looking for when they transferred to SDSU

By Nicole VargasSTAFF WRITER

May 2, 2004

DAN TREVAN / Union-Tribune

Nicole Ireland (left) and Tonette Dyer credit SDSU track coach Rahn Sheffield with taking their skills to what they hope will be the Olympic level.

It isn't every day that an up-and-coming track athlete has the opportunity to compete against her idol.

For San Diego State's Tonette Dyer, that day came two weeks ago, when the senior lined up next to Marion Jones in the 200-meter dash at the Mt. SAC Invitational.

"I was a bit nervous," Dyer recalled. "I just wanted to get out, compete and do my best. I didn't want the name of Marion Jones to intimidate me. I knew definitely I belonged in that competitive field."

And 22.99 second later, Dyer proved it by finishing third, one spot ahead of Jones, who won three gold medals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

For most sprinters, that would have been the result of a lifetime. Dyer, though, admits she was a little disappointed.

"I could have had a better start, I could have had more technique, more mechanics before I even got started," said Dyer of the time that was three-hundredths off her school record set the previous weekend.

"I'm trying to be more consistent with my performance. I want to be an awesome competitor or, like my coach says, a well-rounded competitor. But you live and learn."

It is that drive to improve, to take the next step in an all-important Olympic year, that motivates athletes such as Dyer and teammate Nicole Ireland.

And under head coach Rahn Sheffield, recognized five times by the U.S. Olympic Development Committee as top hurdle and sprint coach, this pair of All-Americans is getting the mentoring to do just that.

"Thanks to my coach, he built me into what I am today," Dyer said. "I'm building a name for myself. That's why I came, because of the history (he has) and the way he works with his athletes."

Dyer and Ireland are two of nine collegiate student-athletes who chose to transfer to SDSU during their collegiate career, hoping the training of Sheffield would put them on track to follow their dreams.

For this pair, it has turned out to be the best decision.

"These athletes are the best in the nation," said Sheffield, himself an SDSU grad who has spent 18 years with the program, 13 as head coach. "There's nothing they cannot achieve."

Despite the challenges that come with being a women's-only track program that's short on numbers, SDSU remains prominent in the national performance list in 2004, thanks to Dyer and Ireland.

Dyer's time of 51.53 in the 400 is fourth in the nation, while she is tied for fourth in the 200 (22.96) and is 11th in the 100 (11.42). Ireland is ninth in the 400 hurdles (57.40).

Following in the footsteps of Aztecs standouts such as hurdler Miesha McKelvy Jones, bound for this year's Olympic Trials, and former Olympians LaTanya Sheffield and Renee Ross, the two hope that success, and the success of their teammates, puts the Aztecs in a position to repeat as Mountain West Conference champions.

"I believe we can do it," Ireland said. "Everybody is pulling it together so we can defend our title, and for us seniors, we want to go out with a bang."

The fact that SDSU is even in a position to win a conference title speaks volumes about its athletes, a tight-knit group Sheffield describes as "fighters."

"This has been a fight from the gate and continues to be," said Sheffield, whose team's 2003 title ended BYU's string of 20-straight outdoor championships, then the nation's longest active streak in track and field.

"They're fighting for respect and finally they have it. Now, we can't be denied that respect."

That fight can also be seen in Dyer and Ireland, who came to Sheffield with a goal of taking their abilities to the next level. Sheffield had no qualms about accepting the challenge.

"No one should give up on an athlete with goals that big," Sheffield said.

Not Ireland, a senior whom Sheffield describes as the spark of the SDSU track team.

"Nicole Ireland believes in killing a mosquito with a sledgehammer," he said. "Her personality is amazing. I've coached some great athletes, but she's one of the best competitors I've ever coached, as well as a great athlete. She puts the two together."

Ireland, who transferred from Alabama, posted a season best in the 400 hurdles by almost two seconds at the UCSD Invitational last weekend, where her time of 57.40 set a stadium record.

It was an improvement over her previous fastest time of 59.35, set at Mt. SAC. But even that kind of progress must be kept in perspective.

"When we do well, you can't let yourself get too high or gloat too much because as easy as God gave it to you, he can take it away," said Ireland, who will graduate this spring with a degree in math. "We have to keep a cool head. We haven't even reached the top yet."

The road to the top has not been easy.

A Louisiana native who transferred from Louisiana-Monroe after her freshman year, Dyer remembers at one point thinking she had gotten in over her head.

"I told (assistant coach Jennifer Nanista) that track wasn't for me," Dyer recalled. "The way Coach Sheffield trains, he breaks you down and builds a solid base and I wasn't used to that program. Every day, I was in so much pain, my body just wasn't used to it. But now, it pays off."

Sheffield has seen it, too.

"It's been a journey for her, both mentally and physically," he says of Dyer, who is working on an accounting minor to go with her public administration degree. "Now she's arrived at the point where she knows she could be one of the best in the nation, but also in the world."

Closing in on their individual goals has not only benefited the Aztecs as a team, but Dyer and Ireland as individuals.

The two have qualified for the NCAA Regionals, and hope a strong end to their collegiate careers can carry them into July's U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento.

"The sky's the limit for these athletes," Sheffield said. "To wear the five rings (of the Olympics), that's the greatest honor for a track and field athlete, and these two can do that."

Fast friends

Tonette Dyer is in the top 11 in three events nationally this season (400, 200, 100); Nicole Ireland has the ninth-best time in the 400-meter hurdles. The best marks at SDSU by Dyer and Ireland:

100 meters

11.42 – Dyer, 2004 (1st all time)

11.59 – Ireland, 2003 (4th)

200 meters

22.96 – Dyer, 2004 (1st all time)

23.66 – Ireland, 2003 (4th)

400 meters

51.53 – Dyer, 2004 (2nd)

52.91 – Ireland, 2003 (3rd)

400m hurdles

56.10 – Ireland, 2003 (2nd)

Triple jump

40-03.25 – Ireland, 2003 (5th)

"Nicole Ireland believes in killing a mosquito with a sledgehammer.

Her personality is amazing She's one of the best competitors I've ever coached."